A new report has shed light on the performance of property resales across Australia over the September 2019 quarter.
Around 85% of property resales over the period sold for more than their previous price, delivering a gross profit of $18.7bn for resellers across Australia, according to the CoreLogic Pain and Gain report.
This was a slight increase in profitable resales, up 0.1% on the previous quarter, while gross profits increased by $2.4bn over the same period.
Hobart sellers were most likely to experience gains with 98.1% of properties selling for a profit over the three months to September 2019. Regional Victoria (96.6%) and regional Tasmania (96.4%) also delivered positive returns for sellers.
“Hobart has experienced particularly large capital gains over the past five years and this has translated into exceptionally strong results for resellers of both houses and apartments during the past quarter,” said CoreLogic head of residential research, Eliza Owen.
“When it comes to generating a profit for the seller, owner-occupied properties have outperformed investment properties in all markets except for Hobart and Regional Tasmania.
“Over the September 2019 quarter, 98.8% of investment properties resold in Hobart were profitable compared to 98.0% of owner-occupied dwellings."
Nationally, 88.9% of owner-occupied properties resold for a profit compared to 83.4% of investment properties.
Overall, house resellers were more likely than unit sellers to experience gains. Nine in ten houses across Australia sold for more than their previous purchase price compared to eight in ten apartments. The disparity was greatest in Brisbane and Canberra.
“In recent years, there has been a relatively high level of newly constructed apartments in state capitals, especially across Brisbane and the ACT. This oversupply, which contributes to lower prices and higher vacancies, has impacted returns for unit resellers,” explained Owen.
During the September quarter, regional markets outperformed capital cities, with sellers making a profit from 88.0% of regional resales compared to 87.1% of resales across the state capitals.
There was $764.8m in gross losses over the quarter, generated from 12.6% of property resales nationally, with sellers in Darwin experiencing the greatest pain; just 51.7% of properties resold for a gross profit, followed by regional Western Australia at 56.9% and Perth at 63.6%.
